TOURISTS EVACUATED AS VOLCANO ERUPTS FOR 3rd TIME IN WEEKS
A volcano in southwestern Iceland erupted Thursday for the third time since December, sending jets of lava into the sky, triggering the evacuation of the popular Blue Lagoon geothermal spa and cutting heat and hot water to thousands of people.
The eruption began at about 6 a.m. along a three-kilometre fissure northeast of Mount Sýlingarfell, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said. Several communities on the Reykjanes Peninsula were cut off from heat and hot water after a river of lava engulfed a supply pipeline.
The strength of the eruption had decreased by mid-afternoon, the office said, though lava continued to spew from parts of the fissure and a huge plume of steam rose over a section of the crack where magma mixed with groundwater.
The eruption site is about 4 km northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people that was evacuated before a previous eruption on Dec. 18. The Meteorological Office said there was no immediate threat to the town Thursday.
Civil defence officials said no one was believed to be in Grindavik at the time of the new eruption. The Civil Defence agency said lava reached a pipeline that supplies several towns on the Reykjanes Peninsula with hot water — which is used to heat homes — from the Svartsengi geothermal power plant.
The Blue Lagoon thermal spa, created using excess water from the power plant, was closed when the eruption began and all the guests were safely evacuated, RUV said.
No flight disruptions were reported at nearby Keflavik, Iceland’s main airport.